


You're Just A Loverful

by FakePlastikTrees



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, light fluff, meet the parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-11-17 20:59:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18106370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FakePlastikTrees/pseuds/FakePlastikTrees
Summary: Beth and Rio are together and it's time for Rio to meet Beth's parents. It goes as well as it could.





	1. anything you want, any old time

**Author's Note:**

> This was not supposed to be this long. it was a prompt I borrowed from gloryyandgory via Tumblr :)
> 
> Also, if this reads OOC, it's because wtf is Rio like in a relationship??? Hope you enjoy!

“Hey, I’m not going to tell you again. Seatbelts!” 

 

The warning glare Beth shoots the kids through the rearview mirror does very little to settle them down, but at least they buckle up. And what can she expect when they’re all hopped up on pizza and ice cream? 

 

“Daddy, can you make pancakes in the morning?”

 

“Not if you don’t sit your butt down, little man. What did Beth just say?” 

 

“Seatbelts,” Little Marcus answers and Beth can’t help but smile at the exchange. 

 

Rio then gets caught up in a heated debate about soccer with Kenny and she’s grateful he hasn’t noticed the only reason she offered to drive his gigantic Escalade was to have some time to solve this problem she’s unable to put off for much longer. 

 

They’ve been out with the kids all day. Rio’s begun to bring Marcus around lately and now, days out with the kids are an elaborate event that usually leaves them crashing hard by the time they get home, but makes car rides chaotic.

 

To make matters worse this particular day, Beth’s mother’s decided they’re having dinner later this week and she’s been fishing, to say the least, for Beth’s current relationship status. Beth isn’t sure how much longer she can put that conversation off, but it’s only a matter of time before Annie is cornered, and Annie’s got no willpower, not against their mother, so Beth’s just going to have to bite the bullet. 

 

Suddenly there’s a cool hand gently massaging her neck. Stealing a glance at Rio, she offers a gratified hum and a, “Thank you” that is greeted with a tender look of concern.

 

“You alright?”

 

“I’m fine,” she replies softly, “I was just thinking about about that pizza. It was so good!”

 

She shoots him a bit of a smile to sell it, but she already knows he’s not buying it. 

 

“Stop lying.”

 

“I am not lying.”

 

“Yeah you are.” he counters with the tiniest bit of pressure applied to her nape before he resumes gently kneading her nerves. “I told you, you say too much when you lie. And you got stress knots all down here.”

 

He presses his thumb to a particularly tense spot low on her neck and she opens her mouth to say something, but there’s some sort of commotion in the back that requires the reaction of all five kids and both Beth and Rio wince at the noise before looking at each other. 

 

Laughing, Beth asks, “You sure this sleepover is a good idea?” 

 

“Yeah, they’ll wear each other out in an hour, tops.” Rio leans over the console to whisper in her ear, “I’ll wear you out later too.”

 

Beth shivers at that, squirms a little in her seat when he softly kisses her neck. Naturally, there’s a collective “Ew!” from the kids and Rio goes back to bickering with them. 

 

It’s going to take a while to get used to the night and day difference between this Rio and the on-the-job Rio. It’s like two different people; it’s immensely gratifying that she’s the only one with access to both. 

 

They make it home a few minutes later and Rio all but orders Beth to go take a bath and relax while the kids wind down and get ready for bed. She leaves him sitting in the TV room with the boys somersaulting and god-knows-what else on the floor while Jane goes on and on about some new TV show, and Emma brushes Rio’s bald head with a pink princess brush. She’d take a picture if she wasn’t sure he’d kill her for it. 

 

Beth does the bubbles and the bath salts and sinks into sweet, hot oblivion. By the time she’s done, Rio is lounging in the soft flannel pajama bottoms she convinced him to wear after Kenny nearly walked in on him naked one morning before school. It’s part of a two piece set, but he refuses to wear both. 

 

“You want me to wear shoes to bed, too?” Had been his melodramatic response to the purchase weeks ago. But now she hardly ever needs to remind him to not be 100% naked when her children are home. 

 

He’s texting someone; Marcus’s mom, probably. Beth hasn’t met her, but she’s seen pictures. She’s pretty, and young, and sometimes Beth feels pangs of jealousy she isn’t proud of or even used to, but they only last a moment. 

 

He looks up at her when she’s rubbing lotion on her hands and finally sets his phone down. 

 

“Everything okay?”

 

“Yeah.” His eyes briefly dip to where her robe has fallen open enough to give him a peek of cleavage. “So what’s up with you?” He asks. “You’ve been weird all day.” 

 

“No, I haven’t.” 

 

He gives her a look that says he knows she’s full of shit and she caves. 

 

“My parents are coming to visit later this week.” 

 

His eyes are blank. 

 

“And you and I have been,” She gestures between them, “For months now. My mom keeps asking me if I’m dating and when she can come see the kids. I’ve been trying to put it off for a while but she’s not buying my excuses anymore and Annie has the biggest mouth…”

 

“You want me to meet your parents?” 

 

She’s stares back mouth agape, trying to read into his infuriatingly cool demeanor.

 

“I--yes. I think we need to just get it over with.”

 

Rio shrugs. “Okay.” 

 

Beth’s mouth opens and closes and she finally laughs. “That’s it? You’re not even going to fight me on this?” 

 

“Nah. Moms love me.”

 

Beth laughs again. She wants to warn him her mom might not be so easily charmed, not to mention her father, but then he’s smiling at her and she thinks maybe it’ll be fine. 

 

“C’mere.” 

 

“The kids asleep?” She asks, not moving. 

 

“For the most part. Come here.” 

 

“ _ For the most part _ is not definitive.” 

 

“ _ For the most part _ is all you’re gonna get, get in this bed.”

 

She could fight him a little more but he’s so quick she doesn’t even have time to register he’s moving until he’s got her on the bed and underneath him, brushing her hair back and looking at her like she’s precious.

 

She’ll never get used to that either. Dean never looked at her like that, and if he had, she didn’t notice.

 

“You wash counterfeit cash and deal with thugs everyday, but me meeting your mom and pops has you trippin?” 

 

When he’s settled comfortably between her legs, she turns her head to drop a kiss on his forearm before meeting his eyes. “My parents have ever only seen me with Dean. They’re--traditional. They’re sweet but they’re uptight and--”

 

“White.”

 

“Yeah,” she says with a laugh. “They’re very white.”

 

“And some bald, tatted up brown guy is gonna make ‘em nervous.”

 

She cradles his cheek and runs her thumb over his lip. “They’re going to have some questions. They might be a little--defensive, protective of Dean. I just don’t want it to be weird.”

 

“It’s cool,” he says, and lowers his head to kiss her chastely on the lips. “I’ll cook.”

 

Beth snorts. “What?” 

 

“Yeah. I got dinner, don’t trip.” 

 

He’s pulling at the drawstring of her robe when she asks, “Are you sure about that?” 

 

“I’m very sure.” 

 

He’s pulled her robe open and he’s drinking her in, making her slowly forget that she was worried in the first place. He does that a lot; just looks at her  body like he’s committing her to memory and suddenly her head spinning. 

 

“I’m good with my hands,” he adds, slipping a hand between her legs, teasing her open, coaxing her with his middle finger. 

 

“What will you make?” Beth sighs and her eyes drift shut as she braces herself on the headboard. 

 

“Don’t know. Nothing spicy though, don’t worry.” 

 

She wants to laugh, but he’s slowly circling her clit with his thumb now—just enough pressure to make her breathe harder, and then his mouth is wrapped around her nipple and any chance of a coherent thought is promptly tossed out the window. 

  
  
  
  
  


“Okay, I made two cheesecakes!” Ruby announces as she walks through the front door, and stops mid-stride at the sight of Beth sitting on the couch, full glass of wine in hand, petrified stare pointed at the kitchen. 

 

“What’s up? I thought your parents were coming.”

 

“They are,” Beth replies blankly.

 

“Why aren’t you cooking?” 

 

“Rio is cooking.” 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I thought he was kidding, but--” she gestures towards the kitchen counter and Ruby walks all the way through to see bags of groceries sitting on the island. 

 

“Well, where is he?” 

 

“Out. He keeps saying ‘don’t trip’ and won’t let me go in the kitchen.”

 

Ruby sets her homemade cheesecakes on the counter, at which point Beth perks up on the couch. Rio said not to go in the kitchen but he never said she couldn’t have someone do it for her. 

 

“Will you look inside the grocery bags for me and tell me what’s in them? It’s killing me not knowing.” 

 

Shaking her head, Ruby clicks her tongue. “That’s a no for me, dog. Why don’t you just chill and let someone else handle it for once?” 

 

“I don’t know how to do that, Ruby! I’ve cleaned, I’ve showered, I’ve changed twice, the kids are at Annie’s, I don’t know what to do with myself.” 

 

“Yeah, you need to chill.”

 

“Again, how?” 

 

The back door opens then and Rio strolls in with yet another bag. 

 

“She tell you to look in the bags yet?” 

 

“The second I walked in,” Ruby answers. “Don’t worry, I know who signs my paychecks. So to speak.” 

 

Rio’s only reply is a smirk as he starts pulling pans out.

 

“I made cheesecake,” Ruby tells Rio. “One strawberry, one chocolate for the kids. Beth’s mom likes strawberry.” 

 

“Cool. Thanks.” 

 

Just then the kids storm through the front door, Annie stumbling behind them with four bottles of wine in arms. 

 

“Hey, man! Watch it!”

 

Before Kenny succeeds in leading the pack into the TV room, Beth points at the stairs, stopping him dead in his tracks. “Everybody upstairs, go get dressed! I can see the grass stains from here, go.” 

 

Looking at Annie, Beth throws her hands up, “You said you were going to the movies! Why do my kids look like they’ve been working the mines all morning?”

 

“Captain Marvel was sold out okay! I asked them what they wanted to do, and they wanted to go dig holes in the park, what you want from me?”

 

“Four bottles?” Rio asks Annie, mixing something in a bowl that Beth is desperately trying to look into. 

 

“Yeah, you want some?”

 

“Nah, I don’t fuck with reds.”

 

Beth tilts her head at that. She never tires of all the ways he manages to surprise her. 

 

“Trust me, we’re going to need them,” Annie tells him. “Marty and Maggie Marks like to nitpick. You’ll want to be nicely lubricated--”

 

Rio makes a face at this and Ruby makes a matching sound, while Beth scolds her from the couch. 

 

“Annie!” 

 

“ _ You _ have nothing to worry about!” Annie tells her sister. “You’re the golden child who can do no wrong! Sadie’s usually my buffer and she’s at Gregg’s, so I’m for  _ sure _ screwed.” 

 

“That’s not true.”

 

“You’ll owe me big time for taking the attention away from the fact that you’re literally dating a criminal--no offense, Rio--”

 

Rio just shrugs.

 

“--who is like half your age.”

 

“Okay,” Beth rolls her eyes. “That’s an exaggeration to say the least.”

 

“What are you going to say when they ask you how you met?” Ruby asks. 

 

“EHarmony?” Rio suggests, and meets Beth’s eyeline. Something in the particular way he looks over at her makes her laugh and involuntarily bite her lip. 

 

Annie makes a gagging sound and pops a cork out of one of the bottles. “Get a room.”

 

“Our kids go to the same school,” Beth shrugs. “Simple as that.”

 

“Y’all are dramatic, you know that?” Rio drawls, stops when he notices Beth staring at the bowl. “It’s just dressing for the salad, Elizabeth. Relax.”

 

Ruby rolls her eyes at the sound of Beth’s full name and heaves a sigh. “Just tell her what you’re making. She’s going to pull a muscle trying look over here.”

 

“I’m keeping it simple,” He finally concedes. “Chicken in coconut peanut sauce, some rice, green salad, spaghetti  and cauliflower bites for the kids. Spinach and feta puffs for appetizers. Cheesecake and bittersweet chocolate pudding for dessert,” he looks at Ruby and adds, “I made the pudding before I knew you were bringing cheesecake, my bad.”

 

“That’s okay,” Ruby replies, absolutely dumbfounded by Rio’s menu. 

 

Annie looks completely shell shocked, while Beth is suddenly feeling the the urge to kick everyone but Rio out of her house for an hour. 

 

“You uh--” she clears her throat. “--you made pudding?”

 

“Yeah, last night.” 

 

“Oh,” Beth says, absentmindedly touching her neck.

 

Catching sight of her overwhelmed sister, Annie shakes her head. “Please stop mentally fucking him while we’re in the room.” 

 

“I will not.”

 

Ruby shakes her head and purses her lips in disgust. “Y’all are nasty. I’m gonna go. Good luck!” 

 

Beth thanks Ruby for the cheesecake before she goes and when she’s gone, she jumps up and off the couch, pretending not to see Rio’s warning glare. 

 

“I’m just going to look!” She says defensively while peering inside the fridge, admiring the neatly placed pudding cups on the top shelf. “Wow!” 

 

Walking up behind Rio, Beth wraps her arms around his waist and plants a kiss to the space between his shoulder blades.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Mhmm.” 

 

“You’re just full of surprises.” 

 

“Can you go sit your ass down over there now please?”

 

“Yes.” 

 

Just as Beth is rounding the counter, Annie looks at her phone and she groans. 

 

“What?”

 

“Just mom. They’re on the plane.” 

 

Looking up at the ceiling, Beth breathes in and out slowly. When Annie hands her the bottle of wine, she doesn’t even bother with a glass, taking a long swig instead. They pass the bottle back and forth a couple of times, commiserating while Rio shakes his head at their melodrama and wonders when it happened that he became the calm one in this household. 

 

“You ladies need some weed to mellow out?” 

 

“Yes!” 

 

“NO,” Beth says pointedly, and gets lost in a rant about Annie’s behavior along with a warning against even thinking about being high for this, so lost that she doesn’t notice Rio’s on his phone until his voice is raised above the usual gruff whisper. 

 

“And what am I supposed to do with that information?”

 

Beth turns then and waits for any clues as to what could be going wrong while Annie takes another swig from her bottle. 

 

“I’m not gonna say I told you so, but you better find him before I find you.”

 

“Damn,” Annie says behind Beth, who is now concerned for both their evening and their business. 

 

“What is it?” 

 

“Cisco’s new contact sold us a shoddy cash counters, so now I gotta go deal with that.” 

 

“What? Now?” 

 

“Can I come?” Annie asks , trailing behind Beth, who is following Rio into the bedroom. 

 

“You’re  _ leaving _ ?” 

 

“I’ll be back before they get here, yeah?” 

 

“ _ I’ll be good, I swear, just a fly on the wall _ .” 

 

Beth closes the door in Annie’s face and all she hears is a “Hey!” before she rounds on Rio, wide eyed. 

 

“You can’t leave!”

 

He’s pulling his shirt off and her eyes can’t help but roam over his back. 

 

“Rio, they’ll be here in a few hours--I thought we had the day off!” 

 

Pulling a different yet similar shirt out of the dresser, he sigsayshs, “Ain’t no such thing.” 

 

She watches him grab a hoodie, his watch, his phone, the dread of her parents’ visit looming darkly over her at the possibility of having to explain this to them. Rio catches sight of her, and she must be a sight because he lets out a breathy chuckle and shakes his head as he walks up to her. 

 

“You gonna pout the whole time I’m gone?”

 

“I am not pouting, I’m not a child. Or Annie.”

 

“I heard that!”

 

It isn’t relief that she feels exactly when he reaches out to brush a lock of blonde hair back, but she does relax a little and leans in to meet him halfway for a kiss that turns into two, then three for good measure. 

 

Sighing, she walks right into his arms, wraps her own around his waist and casually feels around his waist for the cool metal of his gun. Her stomach drops when she finds it. 

 

“This doesn’t look like you’re going to be back anytime soon.” She pulls back, holding the gun up between them, as she waits impatiently for further explanation. “Well?”

 

“What you want me to say? I gotta take it with me.”

 

And then worry sets in, as it always does despite knowing he’s been doing this for much longer than they’ve known each other. 

 

“Just--don’t get yourself shot.”

 

“I won’t,” he assures her, holding his hand out. “Can I have it back now?” 

 

Reluctantly, she puts the gun in his hand. As he tucks it back into place,their eyes meet and he looks suddenly very serious.

 

“The coconut sauce is done. It’s in the fridge. Appetizers and dessert are done. All you gotta do is make the chicken. Which I bought, so don’t use that supermarket mess you got in your fridge.”

 

“Excuse me, my chicken is organic.” 

 

“I’m sure that’s what the label says.” 

 

“It is!” 

 

“I don’t got time to argue about your chicken right now, I gotta go.” 

 

He kisses her again and walks past her. When he opens the door, Annie’s popping another bottle open. 

 

“We’re going to talk about this later!” Beth calls out. 

 

When he’s gone out the backdoor, she checks her watch and immediately goes in search of her apron; on her way, she pulls the bottle out of Annie’s hand. 

 

“Hey!”

 

“I’m not picking you up off the floor, keep it together.”

 

That last bit of advice might be as much for herself as it is for Annie. 

  
  



	2. I'll Do Anything You Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rio meets the Marks parents!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if anyone still cares about this fic and I honestly cannot guarantee quality material, but it's kinda fluffy and a little ooc, and here it is.

They’re halfway through the appetizers when Beth gets a text message telling her Rio is in the bedroom.

 

“Honey, I’m just saying, you’re the mother of a teenager now, you should dress more appropriately.”

 

Maggie Marks is only on her first glass of wine and she’s already digging into Annie. And Beth feels for her sister, she really and truly does, but there’s no stopping it once it starts, plus Annie can handle herself. She’s had years of experience after all. 

 

She doesn’t like how her mother judges Annie, and how she questions her parenting. Sure, Beth has had her own reservations in the past but all in all her sister’s raised one hell of a kid and she doesn’t deserve it–there is never a safe spot to jump in between jabs though. Any attempt means risking losing a limb, or a big chunk of her sanity, and tonight Beth needs all of her wits about her. 

 

As anticipated, Annie forces a fake chuckle, wine glass dangling from her hand as she props her foot on her chair and rests her arm upon her bent knee. “I realize this is a tough concept for you to grasp, being so inexperienced and all, but they don’t really care what the moms wear, just as long as they, you know, parent once in a while.”

 

“Get your foot off your sister’s chair,” their mother hisses like she used the few times Beth can recall attending public functions together as a family. They never did end well and rarely was Maggie sober so they didn’t make it a habit.   

 

“No,” Annie barked, taking another swig from her glass. 

 

“Get your foot off the chair, Annie,” Beth cautions, giving her a look that assures her it’s just about the chair and not about agreeing with Maggie.

 

When Annie’s foot lands on the floor with a petulant smack, Beth clears her throat and stands up, putting on her best hostess voice, hoping everyone is distracted enough by the children to not catch on. “Will you excuse me just a minute? I’ll be right back.”

 

“ _ Grandpa Marty, what do you call cheese that’s not yours _ ?” Emma asks, taking Beth’s seat when it’s vacant so she can be closer to her grandfather. 

 

“I don’t know, what?”

 

“Nacho cheese!”

 

Beth smiles at the bursting of giggles and her father’s gruff chuckle at the table as she sneaks into her bedroom, quietly closing the door behind her. 

 

Rio’s head appears from inside the bathroom almost instantly, ensuring it’s only her. He’s got a gash above his eyebrow and a look that’s far too casual for the shadow of a shiner threatening to adorn his eye socket. 

 

“Oh, no,” Beth says, turning the lock behind her. “What happened?” 

 

“They here?” 

 

“Yeah, they’re here.” 

 

She follows him back into the bathroom, where he’s already pulling the first aid kit from under the sink, and she makes sure to close the door before making quick work of taking the kit from him, immediately rummaging through it for what she needs.  

 

“Is everything okay?”

 

“Fine,” He retorts, waiting patiently for her to dampen a cotton pad with antiseptic,”things just got a little rough, that’s all.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

She reaches up to tilt his chin down with her free hand while she dabs around the cut on his eyebrow, holding her breath when she dabs the gash and he flinches just the slightest bit.

 

“Is this as bad as it got?” 

 

“Don’t worry about it.”

 

She deliberately presses the cotton pad then and she glares when he hisses in pain, and then laughs at her annoyance. 

 

“Don’t talk to me like that,” she snaps.  

 

“I’m just playing with you, damn!”

 

But he’s still smiling and this and so she takes it as a good sign–maybe he isn’t lying and he really isn’t hurt much worse than what’s visible.  

 

After a minute or so of cleaning his face up, Beth stops and shakes her head, motioning at him. “How am I going to explain this to my parents?”

 

“Jogging incident.” 

 

“A  _ jogging _ incident,” Beth repeats, deadpan. 

 

“Short and sweet, no details. They’ll buy it.” 

 

“Alright,” Beth sighs, not thinking much of the explanation, but deciding it will have to do before she shuts the first aid kit and turns to leave the room, only to be pulled back. Trapped between Rio and the counter, she tilts her head back to look at him, hands already splayed on his shoulders.  

 

“You changed again,” Rio notes, thumbing the fabric-cased buttons down the front of Beth’s Blue and green floral dress. 

 

“Yes,” Beth replies, and smacks Rio’s hand when he undoes the top button. 

 

He laughs at that and cradles the back of her neck, pulling her forward for a kiss she protests only for a second before kissing him back–a playful inviting kissing that she almost doesn’t pull away from the second he loosens his hold on her. 

 

“I’m going to get you later,” he half warns, half promises, and Beth, fighting the smile playing on her lips, only turns the doorknob and says over her shoulder, “Front door, please.” 

  
  
  
  


“You need to invest in something sound so Sadie has something more stable than that old apartment.”

 

“Apartments are stable! It’s not a tent!” 

 

Beth rakes in a deep breath at the sound of Annie and their mother still bickering when she returns to the table. 

 

“It might as well be a tent. You should have a nice house like your sister’s.”

 

“Minimum wage doesn’t exactly add up to buy a house, mom.” 

 

“Well, where’s Greg in all of this?”

 

“Is everybody about ready for dinner?” Beth cuts in, catching Annie’s grateful glance. 

 

“Aren’t we going to wait for your  _ friend _ ?” Her mother asks in this tone that makes Beth nervous. She’s altogether far too curious about Rio while her father has expressed very little interest, and she doesn’t quite know what to do with the negative space between the two very different reactions.

 

“He just called,” Beth lies, holding her phone up. “He said he’s outside.” 

 

Just then the front door opens and Rio, donning a clean button down, a bouquet of flowers she doesn’t remember seeing earlier in the bedroom, and an ear-to-ear smile even Beth is buying into.

 

Jane bulldozes right into him and he swiftly picks her up, throwing her over his shoulder so she’s kicking and yelping excitedly. After setting her down in her respective chair, he walks over to where both Marty and Maggie are already standing. 

 

Marty meets him first; a firm handshake and a quiet “how are ya” accompanied by a nod. He’s never been much for many words, Marty Marks–never been very present. He’s goner than gone when he’s not there, and when he is there, he might as well be invisible despite his impressive height. He’s a tall, Marty, has maybe an inch or two on Rio, and he’s all quiet intensity and very little talk. 

 

“Martin Marks,” he says when they shake hands and Rio nods politely. 

 

“Honor to meet you, sir. Christopher Garcia.”

 

Beth can’t help but look surprised every time she hears his name, which she can count on one hand have a couple of fingers left over, but she pulls it back in time before anyone can notice. Annie, however, can’t help the tiny chuckle she barely disguises with a cough. 

 

“And you must be Mrs. Marks–oh, I’m Mexican,” Rio says, waving Maggie’s extended hand away and pulling her into a hug instead, “we hug.” 

 

Beth tries not to look too impressed but he clocks the look anyway and winks at her while Maggie, who is about Annie’s height and standing on the tips of her toes to hug him, sounds very pleased with the attention. 

 

“These are for you,” Rio adds, handing Maggie the wildflower bouquet. 

 

“Oh, my goodness!” She exclaims and if Annie’s eyes were rolled back any further, they would be in the back of her head. 

 

“I’ll put those in water,” Beth offers and takes the flowers, looking at Rio when she adds, “Christopher, will you help me get a vase from the top shelf, please?” 

 

“Oh, sure,” He replies. “Excuse me.” 

 

Annie grabs his arm as he passes her and whispers, “Psst, Christopher. Hook a sister up with another bottle of wine, won’t you please? I’m dry.” 

 

“Yeah, sure.”

 

Beth is waiting behind the kitchen counter with an unreadable expression on her face once he meets her there. 

 

“What?” He laughed. 

 

“Nothing,” she says, her hands up, eyes smiling as she shakes her head and looks him up and down, noting in disbelief, “They didn't even mention the cuts on your face.”

 

“I told you moms love me. What’s the problem?”

 

“Didn’t know you were such a well-mannered boy, is all.”

 

“I have many sides. You’re not always such a good girl, Elizabeth.”

 

Beth blushes then, hating the way he so easily turns the tables on her and knocks her off kilter even now, even in her own home, on her terf. Biting her cheek, she mock-glares at him and then shakes her head; a wordless ‘not now’ before she clears her throat and makes an attempt to steer them back into a more family-friendly tone.  

 

“Is that true?” She asks. “Is hugging a Mexican thing?” 

 

“No. But old white ladies love shit like that.” 

 

Beth snorts at that, turns around and grabs a vase from one of the lower shelves. 

 

“You don’t look like your mom,” he notes when she turns back around to pick up the bouquet and peel off the plastic and decorative tissue paper. 

 

“No,” she says, dropping the flowers into the vase and rearranging them to her liking. “Annie got all of that.” 

 

“You don’t look like your dad either.”

 

“I look like his sister,” she tells him. “She died when she was very young.”

 

“I look like an uncle too.”

 

Beth looks up at that, trying to place Rio’s handsome features in older man’s face.

 

“He died in the zoot suit riots so I never met him, but everyone says I look like him.”

 

“What was his name?” 

 

“Rio,” he answers with a chuckle and something about that makes Beth feel warm and happy. “That’s why they call me Rio.” 

 

It’s the first real personal piece of information she’s learned about him in the time she’s known him and it feels a lot like knowing him,  _ really knowing him _ .

 

She likes it. 

 

“You guys stomping grapes in there?” Annie suddenly shouts from the dining room, breaking right through the bubble of newness Beth was just beginning to bask in. “Where’s that wine, huh?” 

 

Rio laughs and Beth shakes her head with a tiny roll of her eyes before taking a deep breath and bringing the flowers with her.

 

“Coming!” She calls, but before she knows it, Rio’s hand is on her arm, pulling her back and then trading the vase for the wine.

 

Beth watches him carry the flowers over the sink, where he fills the vase about halfway under the faucet, and then it’s Rio caught off guard when she kisses him, pressing lips and body against his the moment he turns around. She feels him sigh as she teases her tongue against his and then briefly bites his lip before drawing back. 

 

He’s looking at her like he’s wondering if she’s drunk and she shrugs, placing her hand lightly on his chest as she licks her lips and then looks up at him, catching her breath. “Just--thank you.” 

 

“Welcome.”

 

“I’m going to need to see pictures of this uncle later.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Okay. You ready?” 

 

Holding up the bottle of wine, she leads the way back into the dining room and as he follows, Rio replies, “Let’s roll.” 


	3. you're in self-destruct mode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Annie's mom being the worst human, their dad is barely there and Rio helps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiiiii. Same shit different day! no Beta, barely any proofreading–we die like men.

Dinner’s gone (mostly) smoothly and dessert is pretty much a hit. The kids have taken to lathering Ruby’s cheesecake in Rio’s bittersweet chocolate pudding and have even managed to keep spills down to their own clothes for now. For that, and for their inability to keep a single thought to themselves, Beth is grateful to her kids; she makes a mental note to take them to the mall to buy them each a toy or something they like as a thank you.

They’re good grandparents, Marty and Maggie. They don’t see the children as often as Dean’s mother does living so far away, so they play with them and listen to the overlapped recountings of the gaps in between visits. They also slip the kids cash when Beth isn’t looking–she’s never liked them giving them money like that. She doesn’t want them to come to expect it every single time they see them–it’s too Pavlovian for her liking. Kenny is especially good at putting on an act now that he knows money is coming and Beth especially dislikes that, but she supposes she could use the distraction tonight, so she lets Kenny ramble on about swimming and Danny show them his karate moves, while Emma shows her grandmother how to play MASH on a piece of paper and Jane has yet to leave her grandfather’s lap since before dessert was brought out.

Kenny invites Rio into the conversation when it shifts to soccer and Rio happily obliges with additional facts and takes, and Beth? Beth is dreading bedtime because that will likely mean actually having to make conversation with her parents with and/or about Rio.

Taking advantage of a sudden uproar in the conversation that manages to include even Annie, Beth rises from her seat and begins to clear another round of dishes off the table–they’re mostly just pudding saucers that have been practically licked clean so she’ll wait until later to wash them, but she needs to move her legs to keep from fidgeting.

She slips an arm between Rio and Kenny to grab their dishes and she’s surprised feel Rio’s hand slide his palm across her lower back–a brief graze, his way of letting her know he senses her tension and she offers him a soft smile.

“Leave it, I’ll get it.” he says, his voice low so only she hears him beneath Kenny’s animated reenactment of some play some player or other made.

“It’s okay. I need to take a breath,” she whispers and he nods briefly.

As it turns out, taking a breath while unloading the dishes into the sink does do enough to calm her, if only for a moment, if only until she returns to the dining room in time to hear it begin.

“What happened to your face, Christopher?” Maggie asks, speech slurring a little as she sips her Chardonnay, and Beth freezes behind her chair momentarily.

“Oh, this,” Rio replies, waving it off as he leans back in his chair. “It’s nothing. Just a little jogging incident.”

“Oh, goodness. That looks painful.”

“Nah, Looks worse than it is.”

Annie, who is sitting beside Rio, turns slightly toward him, and with a look of utter fascination asks, “A jogging incident you say?”

“Yeah,” Rio replies, side eyeing her with a smirk that’s just a little bit chilling.

“What happened?”

“Anyone want more dessert?” Beth cuts in, getting everyone’s attention for less than a second before Annie continues.

“Did you fall? Or…”

“Just a neighbor’s dog that got away from its leash–knocked me off balance.”

“Must have been a big dog.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“What about drinks? Anyone want drinks?”

That gets Maggie’s attention and she looks over at Beth when she asks, “Honey, why don’t you bring out the nice crystal set you have?”

“That is the crystal in your hand, mom.”

“No, the nice one we gave you.”

Beth bites her cheek and rakes in a breath through her nose before responding. “That’s it. In your hand.”

“Oh,” Maggie says, looking at the glass. “Looks a little cloudy. You didn’t run it through the dishwasher, did you?”

“No.”

“You should never run crystal through the dishwasher,” she says to the room.

“I put my sippy cup in the dishwasher,” Jane cuts in.

“That’s ‘cause you’re a versatile girl with versatile taste in dishware, babe!” Annie replies, giving Jane a wink.

Rio’s eyes go from Beth to Maggie, then back to Beth as if checking for a sign that everything is okay–he’s the tense one now.

Beth offers him a tight lipped smile she hopes is enough as Maggie and Marty lead the way to the living room, Annie not far behind.

He relaxes enough, albeit reluctantly, but asks anyway once the room has all but emptied, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Beth nods once. “Fine.”

“Alright.”

Getting up and heading into the living room, he calls, “What’s everyone’s poison? I’m tending bar.”

“Oh, I’d love an Old Fashioned,” Maggie says from the chair closest to the window.

“You’ve got it. Marty?”

“Just a beer, thanks.”

“I’ll get it,” Annie says, getting up. “I’m getting a beer, too.”

“Elizabeth? A double?”

“Please,” she responds, stepping into the living room right behind Emma.

“Can we have drinks too?” Kenny asks from the floor where he’s already got Danny pinned to the carpet.

“Sure, buddy,” Rio replies, “What chu want? Fruit punch? On the rocks?”

“Yeah!”

“I don’t think so, mister,” Beth pipes in, looking at her watch. “It’s late. Time for bed, come on. Get off your brother. You just ate and I don’t want him puking all over the carpet, come on. Jane, Emma let’s go. Say goodnight to grandpa and grandpa. You’ll see them for lunch tomorrow with Daddy.”

After minor protests and stretched out goodnights, the kids head out of the room and upstairs, Jane lagging behind a little.

“Do you need help getting into PJ’s?” Beth asks her.

“No!” Jane about yells over her shoulder before racing upstairs.

Beth rolls her eyes and gives a little laugh at that. “It’s so fun not being needed.”

“She still sleeping naked?” Annie asks with a chortle as she returns from the kitchen, handing Marty a beer before flopping down beside him.

Beth just shrugs. “She really hates clothes.”

“Remember Sadie wanted nothing to do with clothes ‘til like the age of five? One day he just started dressing himself. She’ll grow out of it.”

“I swear, that kid came out a full-grown adult though.”

“Right?!” Annie exclaims proudly.

“Is she doing better in school?”

“ _He_ ,” Beth, Anny and Marty correct Maggie; she’s visibly taken aback.

“Right, sorry. I forget.”

“Old Fashioned,” Rio cuts in, handing Maggie her drink.

Beth watches her take too long a look at his neck then as he straightens up and returns to the bar.

“That’s a big tattoo you’ve got there.”

Biting her cheek, Beth briefly shuts her eyes and prays that it’ll all be over soon.

“It’s one of my smaller ones, actually,” Rio answer quickly.

“Oh, wow.”

Beth opens her eyes then and takes a seat on the chair opposite Maggie.

“What do you do, Christopher?”

“Mom,” Beth warns.

“What? I can’t ask what he does?”

“Nah, it’s cool. I do a little of everything,” Rio explains, looking over his shoulder when he can as he mixes and pours. “I guess I’m--an entrepreneur. I have a lot of investments.”

“Oh a businessman. So young too. You seem young. How old are you? Twenty-nine? Thirty?”

Annie snorts and chokes on her beer while Beth is beginning to idly scratch at the armrest.

“Uh, not quite. Thirty-five.”

He brings Beth her drink and takes a seat on the armrest she’s not using for a scratch post, a drink of his own in hand.

“Still young,” Maggie says. “Beth is--forty-three, right honey? That’s uh...a difference.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“I mean,” Rio interjects, “I don’t have a calculator or anything but I’m pretty sure it’s not that big a difference.”

“Still, I mean. She’s married, with kids.”

“Soon to be divorced,” Rio says with a smile on his face but an edge to his tone. He drinks from his glass as Beth’s hand finds his knee, giving it a reassuring squeeze, but he continues, “I have a kid, too, so I know what I’m getting myself into.”

“Oh, what’s your little one’s name? Why’s he not joining us?”

“His name’s Marcus. And I like to vet new people before I start bringing him around them. Don’t want to risk forcing weird strangers on him, you know?”

“Dad, how’s the retirement investment coming along?” Annie cuts in, surprising Beth, who seems to be frozen in place at this point.

“Good,” Marty replies, looking at no one in particular. “Right on track.”

“Yeah? You gonna buy that condo in San Diego? Can I break it in?”

“Bethy’s never worked a day in her life, so it’s a good thing she found herself another man to take care of her.”

Beth’s head snaps up so fast at Maggie’s comment that she’s sure she’s pulled something. Usually, Annie’s the one that gets torn to shreds in public; Maggie tends to save her jabs for Beth for when they’re both alone. Her neck and chest are hot; her hands would be shaking if she wasn’t gripping her glass in one and Rio’s knee in the other.

“That’s not true,” Annie says, sitting forward, quick to defend her sister. “She worked at the DQ.”

Maggie snorts into her glass.

“And she’s working now. Who do you think saved the dealership? _Deansie_?”

Beth looks up at Rio but he’s looking around the room, looking at Marty, probably wondering why he’s not jumping in on this but Beth and Annie are used to it; to his passive indifference. Beth can’t remember if he was always like that or if somewhere along the way, their mother killed his spirit. She has that ability, Maggie, to completely strip people of their defenses. Given enough time she could potentially strip them of their whole personality if their dad was any indication.

Beth looks over at him now, sitting there, picking the label off his beer, and she feels sad–angry too, but mostly sad. She thinks about herself as a little girl, watching over a rambunctious Annie the summer she turned three because he wasn’t there and her mother couldn’t get it together long enough to feed them breakfast. That was the year it all started and before then it was mostly fighting that Beth remembered.

They’d go through phases where things would be okay, Maggie would be almost manic with joviality; taking them to the local public pool, signing them up for extra curriculars, buying Beth a piano, and then suddenly it would all just stop and it was back to raising themselves. By the time Beth met Ruby she’d already come up with a system to keep both hers and Annie’s school activities organized–she had a special calendar she kept pinned to the fridge.

She thinks about Jane and Emma sleeping upstairs and she can’t even fathom them going through that. She feels rage, bubbling up in her stomach and she knows she’s going to blow any minute so she stands up suddenly, mumbling some excuse under the unrelenting back and forth between Annie and her mother.

The noise is muffled but it doesn’t disappear when she closes the door to her bedroom and she begins to pace, fingers flexing and then fisting at her sides as the anger rests somewhere within her chest.

How could she ever possibly think this would go smoothly? Why does she always give Maggie the unearned benefit of the doubt? What is wrong with her?

The door opens and she spins on her heel, ready to snap at whoever it is, until she sees it’s Rio and her shoulders sag, not relaxing, but not revved up for a fight at least.

He locks the door and steps as far into the room as he can get without invading her personal space.

“You alright?”

“I just need a minute,” she says, but she needs more than a minute. She needs to punch a wall but that’s not a smart alternative and Rio is there and–well.

Her hands are on his belt the moment she crushes her mouth to his, and he isn’t holding back exactly, but she senses the hesitation and she doesn’t feel like explaining so she pants between kisses, “Floor. The headboard makes noise.”

He lowers himself to the floor while he she pulls her underwear off then, whatever hesitation was lingering there, gone.

The floor is far too hard on her knees and she knows they’re going to be red when it’s over but right now she doesn't care. Right now she just needs him inside her, and his hands on her and–he grabs firm hold of her hips when she settles astride him, taking a brief moment to settle around his girth with her hands astride his head, chest pressed to his as she begins to rock her hips slowly at first, their lips barely grazing.

“Let it go,” he husks, “I’m right here, let it go.”

She pushes herself up with a hand on his chest and begins to rock her hips faster, a little harder, spreading her legs a little wider astride him. Her knees are pinched against the hardwood floor, but he feels so good and when she juts her hips just right his pubic bone rubs against her clit and she’s so close already.

Fisting her hand into her shirt, she breathes harder, biting her lip to keep from moaning. She’s beginning to shake just a little, and then he’s sitting up and holding her to him, his lips swallowing the soft groan that escapes her at the sudden change in angles and then she’s coming; the intense little quakes combing through her body. Just when she’s starting to wonder if he’s joined her at some point, he breaks their kiss to muffle a shuddering groan of his own against her neck and he reflexively pulls her closer still, squeezing her waist in a satisfying way that makes her shiver in the aftershocks of her own release and she kisses the side of his head, waiting to catch her breath before pulling back and smiling.

“Thanks,” she says, a little bashful.

“No, thank you.”

She laughs, cradling his cheek as she leans forward and kisses him softly, wondering how long they’ve been in her bedroom. It can’t be very long. She wasn’t keeping track but she’s sure that was one of their quicker--encounters.

“I don’t want to go back out there,” she tells him.

“So, don’t. I’ll kick everyone out.”

“That’s tempting. But I can handle it. They’ll leave soon.”

“Is your mom always like that?”

“Yeah,” She frowns, gently climbing off his lap and getting her feet before rounding the bed for the box of tissues on the bedside table. “She usually waits to catch me alone. She must be in a good mood.”

There’s no graceful way to clean herself up but she keeps her back to him as she does it and then tosses the tissue in the basket under the table. When she looks up, Rio’s at the other end, having just done the same, tucking his shirt into his pants.

“I don’t like it,” He tells her frankly. “I’ll keep my thoughts to myself cause how y’all handle shit is your business, but I don’t like it.”

“Noted,” She nods, meeting him halfway for another kiss she fully leans into before pulling back and pressing her head to his chest. “I bet your family is not this crazy.”

“My mom is a tough lady,” he answers wrapping both arms around her and she can almost hear the fond smile on his lips. It makes her smile herself. “My sisters are tougher. But they don’t put each other down like that.”

Beth swallows the lump in her throat looking up at him. “Do you think I need to talk to my mother about this?”

“I think,” he brushes her hair back, “that there ain’t nobody else paying the bills around here but you. Ain’t nobody else raising your kids but you–watching ‘em every other weekend is not parenting, those are playdates. And I think that no one should get disrespected in their own home like that. You handle your shit, and you ain’t shy about it, so it’s about time you start acting like it.”

She smiles, really smiles then. “Wow, you really think highly of me.”

“Yeah, don’t let it go to your head. You’re still a pain in the ass more often than not.”

“Awe.” She kisses his chin, his jawline and cheek as he gives her a little squeeze. “You like me.”

There’s a soft knock on the door then and Annie’s muffled but worried murmur, “Beth? You okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” she answers, glancing up at Rio. “Yeah, I’ll be right out.”

“Last call for that weed,” Rio says suggestively, making her laugh.

“Stop it.” She smacks his chest, moving towards the door, “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

“Fuck it up, mama,” he gruffs as she pulls the door open.


End file.
